I just want to thank the University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs for putting on another great show of “Jazz at the Labs.” The dinner was excellent! My husband and I had such a great time. We hope the event brought you many dollars for the K-12 Science Outreach Program.

The entertainment was incredible. First we heard the San Juan Jazz Quintet who played better than ever. Rich Barker, Jonathan Piff, Rob Simpson and Dennis Willows really played a shining performance. And, Oliver Strasser, who was substituting for Thor Hansen, was fantastic.

If this wasn’t good enough, they were followed by the group, Jazz Coalescence. A great performance was put on by John Hansen, Chuck Kistler, Steve Korn, Jay Thomas, Travis Ranney and their leader, Chris Amemiya. Their music was absolutely riveting.

A surprise for all of us was an amazing performance by Kelley Johnson. Kelley is an international award-winning jazz vocalist that gives you “butterflies” in your stomach when she sings. One can just sit there for hours and listen to her warm, sweet and dreamy sounds.

For those people who were unable to make the jazz performance this year, it is a “must see” to put on your calendar next year. Thank you again Friday Harbor Labs and also to the many sponsors that helped make this happen.

Toni Bailey

Friday Harbor